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Hitchhiker who allegedly stabbed driver fatally shot by Manitoba RCMP

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WINNIPEG -

An assault suspect is dead after a police-involved shooting in Westbourne, Man. on Wednesday.

RCMP said they responded to a report of a stabbing at about 8:50 a.m. off Highway 16.

A preliminary investigation determined a man, who was accompanied by a woman, picked up a hitchhiker on the highway in the RM of Westlake-Gladstone.

RCMP said the hitchhiker attacked the driver without provocation.

The driver was able to pull over to the side of the road where the suspect ran away on foot.

Multiple officers responded from various detachments along with Police Dog Services.

Mounties said a short time later they received a call about a suspicious man trying to enter vehicles at the intersection of Highway 16 and Highway 50.

When officers arrived, they said they saw the suspect carrying an edged weapon.

A confrontation followed between the suspect and the responding officers. It was then police said that the suspect was shot in an officer-involved shooting.

Police said an edged weapon was recovered.

RCMP said the suspect was given first aid until local EMS arrived, but he succumbed to his injuries.

The suspect was pronounced dead on the scene.

RCMP said the deceased was a 31-year-old man from Sandy Bay Ojibway First Nation, and no additional information will be released at this time.

The driver is currently in hospital with non-life-threatening injuries.

Police said no additional information about the suspect is being released at this time pending identification and notification of next of kin.

The Independent Investigation Unit of Manitoba has been notified and will be taking over the shooting investigation.

“A team of IIU investigators was deployed to the scene and the investigation commenced,” the IIU said. “Since this matter involves a fatality, a request for a civilian monitor has been made to the Manitoba Police Commission.”

The IIU said witnesses or other people with information or video footage that could assist in the investigation are asked to call 1-844-667-6060.

Manitoba RCMP continue to investigate the stabbing incident. 

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